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Automatically imported from: http://commons.somewhere.com:80/rre/1995/telecommunications.refor.html
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| | | | --- | --- | | Red Rock Eater Digest | Most Recent Article: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 |
telecommunications reform bills
``` [I gather that this went out on Thursday, February 16th.]
From: AllianceCM@aol.com To: ROUNDTABLE@cni.org Subject: PUBLIC ACCESS ACTION ALERT
P U B L I C P O L I C Y A C T I O N A L E R T I M M E D I A T E A T T E N T I O N R E Q U I R E D
The Alliance for Community Media has been alerted to VERY FAST MOVING action in the Senate. Your action on this within the next 72 hours is vital to the future of public, educational and government (PEG) access.
Senator Pressler (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, unveiled a draft telecommunications reform bill on January 31. Yesterday, on Wednesday, February 15, Senator Hollings (D-SC), Ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, unveiled HIS. Senator Pressler's bill, while not favorable to PEG interests, was at least not outright inimical. Senator Hollings' bill is actually WORSE. It could potentially allow cable operators to evade the franchise by beginning to offer telephone service (the draft is ambiguously worded, just ambiguously enough so that a court could conceivably rule that a cable operator was no longer a cable operator). It also was a slap in the face to PEG in that it offers low-cost rates on VDT to broadcast television stations (not nonprofits by any stretch of the imagination) but makes no allowance whatsoever for PEG access on VDT.
They are both bad bills, and we must respond now. Democratic and Republican staffers will be meeting the week of February 20-24th to see if they can put together a bipartisan bill. We need to take action now to see if we can at least preserve a little something for the non-profit sector. I urge you in the strongest possible terms to take the attached letter, to photocopy it, and get it into as many hands as possible. By next Friday, we will have missed the boat on this. It is especially important to get PEG users to sign these letters. The best methodology would be:
Have your users sign the letters at the Center; If you can afford it, fax the letters to your Senator's Washington Office; failing that, the district office will serve equally well; Set a deadline of Tuesday Night for collecting letters; Get the hard copies into the last Fedex on Tuesday (Monday if you have a good collection) to the Senator's Washington office.
Please feel free to call me or Jeff Hops if you have any questions. Your help is much appreciated. Good luck, and THANK YOU!
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SAMPLE LETTER (SUGGESTED FOR ALLIANCE MEMBERS...OTHERS FEEL FREE TO MODIFY!):
Dear Senator:
I am a member of a local community group which regularly utilizes our local public access center to reach out to the greater community. As you may know, public, educational and governmental "(PEG)" access serves the churches, elementary and secondary schools, libraries, YMCAs, American Legion chapters, Chambers of Commerce, and other non-profits and charities in our state and acts as a vital link between private service providers and service utilizers.
I am extremely concerned that BOTH Commerce Committee Chairman Larry Pressler's draft telecommunications reform bill and Ranking Member Hollings' draft bill could severely harm PEG access. Both drafts allow phone companies to provide "video dialtone" (VDT) service. This phone company- provided cable substitute is virtually identical to cable television. However, unlike cable, VDT providers would not be required to obtain a franchise under either bill. Current law empowers franchise authorities to ask for PEG access, facilities, equipment and services from cable operators. A law which does not impose the same or similar requirement on VDT would work against regulatory parity, and punish cable operators and the town I live in for providing this vital public service.
I am particularly distressed that the Democratic draft offers low, "incremental-cost" based rates to broadcast television stations, while making no such allowance for PEG access. I simply cannot understand why broadcast television stations, which are profitable commercial entities, should be entitled to low-cost access, while local non-profit community organizations like mine will be forced to pay commercial rates to speak to our communities. I urge you to work for an amendment to the Hollings bill which would require incremental-cost access to PEG centers covered by Section 611 of the Cable Act, and would require a "franchise-like" fee to pay for the facilities, equipment and services that make such access possible.
While Senator Pressler's draft clearly states that cable operators will continue to be subject to franchising authorities, Senator Hollings' draft is ambiguous about that -- it could potentially open the door to evasion by present and future cable operators, who may begin offering minimal telecommunications services to remove themselves from the jurisdiction of the local franchise authority. I strongly believe that all providers of television by wire should be subject to PEG requirements. Cable operators should not be able to opt out by offering telephone service. Any ambiguity on this point should be remedied -- Sec. 202 of the Pressler draft is quite clear on this point.
Finally, I urge you to work to extend the benefits of incremental-cost based universal service to PEG centers. PEG centers now in operation are a model for the future of the information superhighway, offering "one-stop shopping" for a wide range of informational and interactive services. Senator Hollings' draft proposes that incremental-cost based rates for universal service be extended to a variety of "community users." I believe that PEG centers should be explicitly included in this group. This non-commercial access to the information superhighway is essential for smaller charitable and nonprofit organizations like mine to empower themselves and provide efficient community service in the electronic age.
I understand that Republican and Democratic Senate staffers are currently meeting to work out differences between the two bills. I urge you to consider the needs of your constituents as you consider this important legislation which could drastically affect, not just the telecommunications industry, but actual users of the information superhighway. I look forward to your response. ```
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